November 6, 2009 - The Greater Rochester Chapter of USLacrosse held their 2009 Hall of Fame dinner tonight at the Burgundy Basin Inn in Pittsford.
Rich Curtis was introduced by long-time Brighton AD, Rich Kaplan Tom Hannan started the introduction of Arthur Johnson, whose daughter, Sue Hannan finished the introduction. Paul Wilson introduced Section Five Lacrosse Chairman, Mike Simon. Pat Cougevan spoke about long time friend, Regy Thorpe who, along with his family was home with the flu and Tony Levin introduced Gene Peluso, who regaled the crowd with his well known wit and one-liners.
Mark Rice welcomed he fifteenth class of the Rochester Lacrosse Hall of Fame as Emcee before a group of "who's who" of local lacrosse. John Maloney and Al McLiverty reminded the people in attendance of the recent assault of football and lacrosse official, Pete McCabe and asked for help in a 50-50 raffle, which raised over four hundred dollars for Pete's family.
Rich Curtis |
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Long-time Athletic Director, Rich Kaplan began the induction ceremony with his introduction of long-time friend and employee, Rich Curtis, who has led the Brighton high school girls program for fourteen years.
Rich peppered his acceptance speech with thanks to may people including his own family members, players, parents and fellow coaches.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Started the Brighton program in 1996.
Led the team to 11 straight Section V titles from 1998-2008.
Led team to 4 New York State Finals.
NYS Champions 2005.
"Coach of the Year" four times.
33 players played in college.
11 All Americans.
Overall record 250-26.
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Arthur Johnson |
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The family of Arthur Johnson traveled from Ohio for the ceremony. Son-in-law, Tom Hannan started with a listing of accomplishments for the Hobart goalie (class of 1935).
Sue Hannan then spoke of recollections and stories about her father which included observations about a 11 day trans-atlantic trip by the USA team and how the team practiced on the ship's deck during the crossing. The hundred and twenty people in attendance laughed when Sue stated that her father claimed that only seven balls when overboard.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Played football and lacrosse at Hobart.
One of three Hobart players to be named 1st team All America team twice, between 1920 and 1968. (1934, 1935)
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Named to All America team in 1937, two years after graduating from Hobart.
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Coach Dr. Laurie Cox claimed that the 1937 All-America team was the greatest of all time.
Member of the Hobart Hall of Fame in 2006.
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Helped found youth lacrosse in Skaneateles.
- Community and civic leader.
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Mike Simon |
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Mike Simon was introduced by Section Five Assistant Lacrosse Chair and SportsFive owner, Paul Wilson who listed Mikes many contributions to the running of programs for lacrosse players and his dedication to Section V lacrosse.
HIGHLIGHTS:
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Originally from Massapequa, NY.
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Graduated from University of Dubuque in 1974.
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Waterloo Head Lacrosse Coach 1994.
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Finger Lakes Coach of the Year 1994.
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Section V Boys Lacrosse Chair since 1996.
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Coordinator NYS Championships in Rochester in 2009
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Helped to establish Section V Players of the week, All Tournament teams and Coach of the Year awards.
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Received "Distinguished Services to Athletics" award from NYSAAA in 2005
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Wife Karen and daughters Jamie and Kyle.
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Regy Thorpe |
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Regy missed the ceremony, home with his family and all with the flu.
Syracuse graduate and pro player, Pat Cougevan both introduced his long-time friend and accepted the award on Regy's behalf.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Played football, lacrosse and wrestled in High School.
Captain and All American at Herkimer Community College (1991).
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Captain and All American at Syracuse University.
Player with Rochester Knighthawks since 1995.
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General Manager of the Knighthawks 2008-2009.
Player, Rochester Rattlers.
Assistant Coach for the Rochester Rattlers
Won three Unsung Hero awards, two Comeback Player of the Year awards with Knighthawks.
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Only Knighthawks player to have played on both Championship teams and has played in every postseason game in franchise history.
Named to the Knighthawks' All-Time Team in 2005.
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Gene J. Peluso |
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Finishing the ceremony was Tony Levin, long-time lacrosse coach at both the High School and College levels, who introduced former RIT Head Coach Gene J. Peluso.
Tony told the crowd how he first hired Gene as an Assistant Coach at McQuaid Jesuit and later signed on as an Assistant for Gene at RIT.
Gene then took the microphone and in his well-known style entertained the audience with many quips and one-liners about colleagues and family which drew many laughs.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Player at Nazareth 1988-91.
Coached JV at McQuaid Jesuit and was an Assist Coach at Drew University.
Started program at Lycoming College with 32-13 record in last 3 years.
Head Coach at RIT 2001-2009 with overall record of 88-45.
21 USILA All Americans. -
12 North-South All Start game participants.
Selected Coach (north squad) in North-South All Star game (2008).
Overall coaching record of 129-75.
Current Coach at Steven Tech.
USLacrosse Greater Rochester Board of Directors.
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